Moelfre rocks
Rock mark · Salt water · in Anglesey
Flat but uneven rock on the east Anglesey coast reached along the coast path, with decent depth close in and slightly rough ground below. A deep ravine runs through the platform, and the lower rock becomes extremely slippery as the tide falls off it.
Safety: cliffs and rock platforms — can cause serious injury or death. 2 more points apply here.
FishingHQ describes what this place is, not whether you may fish it. Access, permits and who to ask.
What you can catch here
Documented at this place, grouped by how you would be fishing, with how strongly the sources support each one. This is what has been written down, not a forecast, and being listed is never permission to fish.
From the shore · 14
Ballan wrasseRegular local target1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock mark
Conger eelRegular local target1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock mark
PollackRegular local target1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock mark- Small-spotted catsharkRegular local target1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock mark
Atlantic codSeasonal1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock markAround Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec
Atlantic mackerelSeasonal1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock markAround Jun–Sept- Bull hussSeasonal1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock markAround Jan–Feb, Nov–Dec
- DabSeasonal1 placeMoelfre rocksOver rock markAround Jun–Sept
Also documented from the shore: Saithe · Starry smooth-hound · Whiting · Corkwing wrasse · Curled octopus · European lobster
What these strengths mean
- Regular local target
- Fishing sources describe this as a normal local target here, not merely as caught.
- Seasonal
- Well supported, and concentrated in part of the year rather than spread through it.
- Recorded here
- At least one credible public account of this species being caught here. That is all it means.
- How breadth is counted
- A fish documented at six marks is shown as six marks: breadth never raises the strength on its own. A fishery account describes the fishing; a recorded catch reports one specific catch. How evidence is weighed.
Fish documented nearby, not here
Nothing below has been documented at Moelfre rocks itself. Each one has been documented at a named place on the same ground, and the places are listed with it. Treat this as what the water around here holds rather than as a catch list for this mark.
Widely documented on this ground
Documented at three or more neighbouring places, fished a way this place is also fished. That is a pattern about the ground rather than about any one mark, and it is the closest this site comes to saying you will probably meet a fish somewhere nothing has been written about.
From the shore
- European sea bass — documented at Llanddwyn Island; Beaumaris Pier; Red Wharf Bay (+2 more)
Also documented at neighbouring places
One or two accounts each, on the ground around here. Enough to know the fish is caught in these waters; not enough to say anything about this place.
From the shore
- European flounder — documented at Red Wharf Bay; Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- Small-eyed ray — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- Thornback ray — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr
- European plaice — documented at Cymyran and Rhosneigr; Red Wharf Bay
- Turbot — documented at Red Wharf Bay
How people fish it
Practised here: Sea fishing.
Methods the sources name for this ground. Each one is explained in full on its own page.
- Feathering and multi-lure traces
A string of small lures on droppers, worked in the water column — how most people in Britain and Ireland catch their first sea fish, and the method most likely to catch far more than anybody intended.
- Float fishing
Suspending a bait at a controlled depth beneath a buoyant indicator — the most visual, most controllable and most widely applicable method in angling.
- Ledgering
Fishing a bait on the bottom held by a weight, with no float — the simplest way to fish at distance, in depth, or in wind.
- Spinning
Casting an artificial lure and retrieving it so that it moves like something alive — the most direct form of lure fishing.
Baits and lures for these fish
The baits and lures each of the fish above is commonly taken on, from that fish’s own page. This is what works for the fish, not a report of what people use on this particular water — local knowledge and the conditions on the day still decide.
Baits
- Squid and cuttlefish — for Conger eel, Small-spotted catshark, Atlantic cod, Bull huss and 1 more
- Fish strip and cut bait — for Conger eel, Small-spotted catshark, Atlantic cod, Bull huss
- Ragworm — for Ballan wrasse, Pollack, Small-spotted catshark, Dab
- Crab and shellfish — for Ballan wrasse, Saithe, Starry smooth-hound
- Lugworm — for Atlantic cod, Dab, Whiting
- Peeler crab — for Atlantic cod, Starry smooth-hound
- Sand eel — for Pollack, Saithe
- Sea deadbaits — for Small-spotted catshark, Bull huss
Also: Prawns and shrimp
Lures
- Soft plastics — for Ballan wrasse, Pollack, Atlantic cod, Saithe and 1 more
- Metal jigs — for Pollack, Atlantic cod, Atlantic mackerel, Saithe
- Jigs and jig heads — for Pollack
- Spinners — for Atlantic mackerel
The ground and the water
- The ground
- Flat but uneven rock on the east Anglesey coast reached along the coast path, with decent depth close in and slightly rough ground below. A deep ravine runs through the platform, and the lower rock becomes extremely slippery as the tide falls off it.
- Exposure
- Open east and north-east, sheltered from the prevailing south-westerly by the island behind it.
- Depth
- Decent depth close in for a shore mark, over slightly rough ground.
- Tide and flow
- Fishable at both high and low water, which is unusual and is the reason the mark is popular; the lower rock is what gets slippery on the ebb.
Through the year
Smooth-hound, pollack, wrasse and dab through the summer with mackerel on feathers; dogfish, whiting, coalfish, small codling, strap conger and bull huss through the winter.
The months the sources attach to each species here. Where a species carries no season it is listed underneath rather than assumed to run through the year.
| Species | J | F | M | A | M | J | J | A | S | O | N | D |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Atlantic cod — seasonal, recorded in November, December, January, February. | ||||||||||||
| Atlantic mackerel — seasonal, recorded in June, July, August, September. | ||||||||||||
| Bull huss — seasonal, recorded in November, December, January, February. | ||||||||||||
| Dab — seasonal, recorded in June, July, August, September. | ||||||||||||
| Saithe — seasonal, recorded in November, December, January, February. | ||||||||||||
| Starry smooth-hound — seasonal, recorded in June, July, August, September. | ||||||||||||
| Whiting — seasonal, recorded in November, December, January, February. |
Recorded here with no season stated: Ballan wrasse, Conger eel, Pollack, Small-spotted catshark, Corkwing wrasse, Curled octopus, European lobster.
Safety
Cliffs and rock platforms — Can cause serious injury or death
Anglers are swept from rock platforms by individual large sets rather than by the average sea, which means the conditions that kill people frequently look survivable for the twenty minutes before they arrive. Wet rock, weed and a swell running onto a sloping platform remove any chance of recovery.
What reduces it: Watch the water for a full set cycle before committing to a position, know the escape route and how long it takes, wear a flotation aid rather than carry one, never fish a platform alone, and treat a rising swell forecast as a reason not to go rather than a reason to be careful.
Tides and being cut off — Can cause serious injury or death
Tidal streams through the Menai Strait and around Anglesey's headlands reach speeds a kayak or small boat cannot make way against, with standing waves and overfalls forming at the constrictions. Slack water does not coincide with high or low tide and the window is short. Extensive intertidal flats along the strait flood rapidly and can cut off a person from behind.
What reduces it: Plan against tidal STREAM information rather than tide tables alone. Treat the Swellies as a slack-water-only proposition in any small craft. Know the exit before committing to a mark on the flats. Carry a means of calling for help and tell somebody the plan.
Worse when:
- Spring tides, when the streams are fastest and the slack window is shortest
- Wind against tide, which builds a short steep sea in minutes
- Fog or failing light, when the visual cues to what the water is doing are lost
Slips, trips and falls — Can cause injury needing treatment
The lower rock becomes extremely slippery as the tide recedes off it, and a deep ravine runs through the platform that is easy to walk into in the dark.
What reduces it: Walk the platform in daylight before fishing it after dark, keep to the upper rock as the tide drops, and treat studded boots as normal rather than optional here.
Rules and access
FishingHQ does not know the current access position here. Shore angling in Wales is not rod-licensed, but access rights, landowner permission, local authority and harbour byelaws, national and inshore fisheries measures, and site designations all apply and all change. Check the current position with Natural Resources Wales, the harbour or local authority, and the landowner before going.
Who holds the answer:
- Natural Resources Wales, which administers marine and fisheries regulation in Welsh waters.
- The local authority and, where one exists, the harbour authority, for access, byelaws and shellfish classification.
- The national fisheries authority for Wales, for sea fisheries measures, licensing and enforcement.
- The inshore fisheries and conservation body for the area, for local byelaws, closed areas and gear restrictions.
- The food safety authority and the local authority, for shellfish bed classification and closures, which change continually.
- The harbour authorities and the port authority for the strait, for navigation, launching and access.
- The maritime and coastguard agency and the lifeboat service, for safety information and rescue in an area with genuine tidal hazard.
- The landowner, club or fishery, for permission to fish any freshwater on the island.
Nearby fishing
Other publicly documented places within about 40 km, by distance. Positions are approximate public geography and are never exact marks.
- Red Wharf Bay — 5–10 km · Bay
- Point Lynas — 5–10 km · Headland
- Llyn Alaw — 10–25 km · Reservoir
- Penmon Point — 10–25 km · Headland
- Beaumaris Pier — 10–25 km · Pier
- Cemaes Bay — 10–25 km · Bay
- The Menai Strait and the Swellies — 10–25 km · Tidal race
- Cymyran and Rhosneigr — 10–25 km · Surf beach
Sources for this place
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice by region, ground type and named mark.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated public descriptions of which places are conventionally fished and how, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship, and not relied on for access, permission or any current rule.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea fishing in north Wales — the mark guide — Turner's Tackle (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Ground, footing, tide state and shore species at the Anglesey and north Wales marks the retailer's own guides describe.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- British Sea Fishing: Welsh shore marks — British Sea Fishing (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Mark-by-mark Welsh shore angling: which species are fished for at each named mark, in which season, and with which baits and methods.States this directlyPassage read and verified
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy. Last reviewed 2026-08-16.